


look how the stars dance

by zerotransfat



Series: and when my time is up [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gabriel is a sad asshat once again, Gen, Genji destroys Hana at Smash, M/M, New Year's Eve, Reinhardt and Torbjorn Best Drinking Buddies, Slow Dancing, more gratuitous hamilton song references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:10:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7630234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zerotransfat/pseuds/zerotransfat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a clear New Year's Eve at Watchpoint Gibraltar, a time for celebrations, laughter, and quiet moments. The two of them take a break and talk about how history repeats.</p><blockquote>
  <p><br/>It’s a quiet song playing and it’s just the two of them, slow dancing under the dark starry sky like no one’s watching.<br/><br/>His hand on Jesse’s shoulder tingles, as if the dragons know exactly what he’s thinking, and Hanzo smiles.<br/></p>
</blockquote><br/>Sidestory to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/7576630">drink down my days</a>.<br/>
            </blockquote>





	look how the stars dance

**Author's Note:**

> This fic mostly exists for slow dancing Mchanzo.
> 
> Will not make a ton of sense if you do not read part one, drink down my days.

The stars are bright and brilliant over the Gibraltar winter sky as New Year’s Eve draws to a close.

With a loud bang, Lena walks into the shared rec room in Watchpoint Gibraltar, carrying a massive cardboard box and Zenyatta in tow. When the others ask about him, Lena cheerfully replies that Zenyatta would be helpful in floating up to hard to reach spots and hanging up streamers. No one, least of all Zenyatta himself, has the heart to tell her that Zenyatta’s levitation did not work that way.

Lúcio is quite naturally the DJ; he spends the afternoon hovering over the sound system, guarding it jealously, especially from Reinhardt who is also hovering around the sound system and innocently carrying a dusty case of antiqued CD’s. From Lúcio’s groaning, it seems to be David Hasselhoff albums.

The rest of them drift in, one by one, following the music and smell of food. Pretty soon afterwards most all of them are gathered there, talking and laughing. The punch bowl makes its rounds, with an ongoing tournament of Smash Brothers to determine who has to get off their ass and make new bowls. So far, neither Genji nor Hana has moved from their seats, the two of them pressing buttons with furious dedication and reflexes. Fareeha watches them with indulgent amusement.

“Eat my Rest, Genji!” Hana snarks, and then rapidly pales she realizes her mistake.

“Ha! Do not presume to best me, especially when I am in harmony with the dragon!” Genji is definitely smirking underneath the mask as his Corrin takes advantage of the attack by transforming into a dragon and counter striking, rapidly throwing Jigglypuff off the stage. “And this round goes to me! No johns!”

“You suck!”

Hanzo watches all of this from his own corner, contently watching his brother playing video games like he’s a teenager again, enjoying the shouts and curses as two beat the metaphorical stuffing out of each other. Beside him, Jesse only huffs out a silent laugh before turning and wrapping his serape tighter around the two of them and falling asleep against his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

 

Dinner is a chaotic disaster; it nearly erupts into a full out food fight at two points as Winston’s glasses are put at stake, Hana is livestreaming the entire thing providing unwelcome and unamusing commentary, and Jamison destroys the turkey in spectacular fashion involving two forks and some C4.

“Noooo, let him do it!” Hana groans behind her camera in disappointment before cheering as Zarya takes the turkey in one hand and lobs it like a grenade out the window. It lands against the packed dirt of the training range and neatly explodes, leaving a charred crater.  

“I can’t believe we tried to eat that.” Angela says, and her eyes are incredulous. “That is a health and safety hazard so great I don’t even know where to _begin_ lecturing you.”

“Let him be, habibti.” Fareeha says, a quick arm around Angela’s waist. “He will do as he wants whether we lecture him or not.”

Junkrat sniffs in mock disdain. “None of you cook food right, mates. It’s not hot unless it’s smoking!”

Mei then mutters from next to Zarya, “So if I use my Endothermic Blaster at the same time Junkrat is blowing up the turkey would they just cancel out and end up with a normally cooked turkey?”

The table erupts into heated debate over the problem, and Hanzo just sighs and continues eating.

_Idiots._

 

* * *

 

 

After dinner, Lúcio whoops excitedly and dives for the controls at the music table. He keeps his blaster on hand, a close eye still on Reinhardt and his CD case. He unfortunately misses Torbjörn who in a truly impressive maneuver combat rolls past the man and sticks in—

“Oh no,” Jesse groans as the familiar chords of Wonderwall echoes in the room.

The night goes on and they all sit around or dance as the mood strikes them. There’s light and laughter in the room, the likes of which Hanzo hasn’t seen anywhere else. He gets up out of his chair then, taking Jesse’s hand in his, leading him out onto the terrace. Jesse doesn’t protest, only chuckles and walks beside him.

It’s a quiet song playing and it’s just the two of them, slow dancing under the dark starry sky like no one’s watching. Hanzo’s hand is on Jesse’s shoulder, his other hand intertwining their fingers together, one hand flesh and one hand mechanical. With a soft motion, Jesse pulls his body closer, close enough to let Hanzo feel how warm he is, close enough to feel Jesse shiver at the contact.

They sway with the low beat, not saying anything. _There’s magic in moments like these_ , Hanzo thinks, _as powerful as raging dragons._

His hand on Jesse’s shoulder tingles, as if the dragons know exactly what he’s thinking, and Hanzo smiles.

His boyfriend huffs in response, eyes fond. “What are you smiling about? Not that I’m complaining, darlin’.”

“Thinking about you, fool. You’re beautiful.” Hanzo reaches up, touches Jesse’s face softly. The gunslinger reaches back, putting his own hand on top of the one on his face.

As the song ends, they naturally migrate to a bench on the edge of the balcony. From this spot they can see the rest of the rec room — Reinhardt has his large arm thrown across Torbjörn’s shoulders as they sing an annoying drinking song, Lena and Hana groaning obnoxiously at them. Lúcio is nodding off by the speakers as Angela draws a blanket over him, careful not to wake him up, Fareeha gently wedging a pillow underneath his head. Mei, Zarya, and Winston are engaged in a lively discussion, with Winston waving his jar of peanut butter excitedly and both Mei and Zarya grinning wildly, heralding some spectacular explosions in the laboratory blocks in the near future. Over in a quiet corner of the room, Zenyatta leads a meditation session for Symmetra and Genji. Neither Junkrat or Roadhog is there, but Hanzo recalls the two lugging around a very large wooden crate labelled ‘EXPLOSIVE’ and personally looks forward to the show.

One figure is conspicuously missing from the New Year’s festivities.

Hanzo scans the room again, but Gabriel Reyes is indeed absent. One wouldn’t think a six-foot one man would be easy to miss but the man makes every effort to be as unobtrusive as possible, trying to be invisible in his obvious pain. 

It doesn’t work. This new Overwatch must hold deep scars for Reyes, despite the man not knowing more than half of them, and say what you will about them but Overwatch as a whole has an amazing capability for caring about people. No matter how welcoming, it must be a painful reminder of what he has lost.

“I have not seen Reyes-san all day, Jesse.” He says, frowning a little. “Where do you think he has gone?”

“That, darlin’, is something all of us has been trying to figure out since the inception of Overwatch.” Jesse says, a bit wryly. “You see, every year on New Year’s Eve, both Reyes and Morrison always used to go missing during the evenings. We all had running bets on where they were—half of those bets also included that they were just boning somewhere private where we couldn’t find them.” The gunslinger’s smile is a small, nostalgic one, his lips curling slightly at the memories. “Genji kept tossing out hints, the little shit, and Ana _definitely_ knew since she had crazy sniper eyes but she refused to tell us, so we were kept in the dark.”

Jesse laughs then. “Actually, darlin’, let’s make a bet, shall we? See if your crazy sniper eyes can find Reyes.”

Hanzo raises an eyebrow, amused. “And since you are the challenger, I get to state the bet—no control over the music player on the next seven long mission road trips.”

“Three missions, you know I would miss Rascal Flatt’s voice.”

“Five missions.”

“Four missions of music control and a back rub of the time of your choosing, but you’re skinning me for all I’m worth, sweetheart.”

“Deal.”

From the outset, Hanzo abandons the notion that Reyes is anywhere in the base itself; Jesse’s friends are much too enthusiastic to let any stone left unturned if the mood strikes them, and Gabriel Reyes was not Blackwatch Commander once upon a time for nothing. The only logical conclusion remaining is that the man is somewhere outside. Taking in the looming shapes of the cliffs against the skyline, Hanzo scans the horizon with trained eyes, looking for any sign of movement or strange colours— there. He catches the barest flicker of a patch of darkness and manages to catch a cloud of black smoke coalescing into a familiar man.

From what he can see, the dark-cloaked figure—Reyes—is alone on the cliff. There are two bottle shaped objects next to him, but throughout the time he’s watching Reyes doesn't reach for the bottles once.

The man looks lonely up there, sitting by himself and half hidden among the windy crags above the Watchpoint. The two bottles and a certain air in Reyes’s body language, a certain solemnity, makes Hanzo sure about his guess.

After all, Hanzo of all people understands the need for certain rituals, to mourn their dead and lost loved ones. He used to do it himself, before Genji came back and changed everything, and for a second he smells incense and hears _you are not the first assassin sent to kill me_. Jesse then shifts closer, pulling Hanzo’s head towards his shoulder to support him as if in response to the thought, and the moment passes.

“Keep wondering then, cowboy.” Hanzo smiles slightly. “I would leave him alone.”

“Aww man, ya telling me ya have an idea, but ya won’t tell me? What kinda boyfriend are ya?” Jesse teases, his arm tightening around Hanzo’s shoulder. The scruff on his face scratches at Hanzo’s skin as he kisses his forehead.

“The best.”

“Fishing for compliments? I’ll have you know you shouldn’t have to do that; I’m more than happy to supply.”

Hanzo hums, and they sit there in the silence, comfortable in each other’s company.

They have worked so hard for this harmony and Hanzo can’t help but feel proud about it.

“You’re smiling again, sweetheart.” The other man grins back at him and Hanzo could feels his smile growing in response.

“I have reason to smile. Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now; some people don’t live to half our age and have so much to tell.” Hanzo laughs quietly, looking into the shining Mediterranean stars. “We’ve made it all this way, haven’t we? I could never have imagined myself like this ten years ago. I could have never imagined myself like this just a year ago, to be truthful.”

“Me neither, dear. But sometimes, I wonder.” Jesse’s expression saddens, age-old shadows gathering behind his eyes. “I mean, look at Gabe and Jack, right? Sometimes I wonder…what if that happens to us? What if we fall apart? I don’t want that to happen. There’s so much we still haven’t done, and I don’t want to lose anything. Not again. What do we leave behind? What if we fall and everything goes down in flames again? I left, the first time. I don’t think I can leave again, and what will they think of us if that happens? A year from now, ten years from now—”

Hanzo softly turns Jesse’s face to look at him. “We are not our predecessors, Jesse. It took me a very long time to learn that. I was beholden to the clan elders for the early parts of my life, and that was years of ingrained servitude to the old ideals they had engraved into the rotting foundations of the Shimada clan. When I thought I killed Genji, I was cut loose, and drifted away, lost. It took a decade and my brother returned to learn, slowly, that tradition is not everything.”

He takes a deep breath. “ _Legacy_ is not everything. We already leave behind a legacy—but we’re still alive; that is a miracle in and of itself. Stay alive. That would be enough—the rest of it we can figure out. We made it here, Jesse, made it all this way.” With a gentle hand, Jesse reaches out and brushes a stray lock of black hair back behind his ear, smiling again. It’s a soft, beautiful smile, and Hanzo can’t help but to smile back.

“As long as we both come home at the end of the day, darlin’.” He draws Hanzo into a short, sweet kiss. “That would be enough.”

Their kiss was interrupted by a large _boom._

Followed by many other explosions.

“What in tarnation?!— Bless their hearts cause they ain’t gonna see the sun rise ever again. Oi! You’re not supposed to set fireworks off until exactly at midnight, not just blanket bombard through the entire hour!” Jesse shouts down at the two Junkers down in the yard.

“Aw, mate! It’s a good opportunity to test out some of me new stuff! Don’t be stingy! And it’s not like you don’t hog the practice range for hours whenever you modify that tiny little gun anyway!”

“Don’t you talk smack about my Bessie! How ‘bout I come down there and show you what she can really do! And stop corrupting Bastion, it doesn't deserve to have it’s social skills completely ruined by you two!”

“ _Beep bweeep boop,_ ” The robot chirps, and if it had been human it would have been a sullen teenager saying the equivalent of _you can’t tell me what to do!_

”Don’t you sass me, now! Buncha’ ungrateful brats, the whole lotta you….”

Hanzo laughs a little. “And here you are, the brattiest of them all.”

“Aw, sweet cheeks, but I’m _your_ brat.”

  
The New Year is welcomed by laughter and quite a bit of exasperated moaning, and if Hanzo thinks he sees Gabriel sneaking back into the base with a slightly more relaxed expression than he has had for months, well, neither of them tell.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetaed as of right now.
> 
> Super special thanks go out again to @ave and @Belinda on the Mchanzo discord, BINCHES I DID IT
> 
> I am [here](http://copperpatina.tumblr.com) on tumblr as always.


End file.
